Weekend Box Office Wrap Up: Jan 27 2013

Three niche genre films opened in this week’s box office, but only one was able to post a strong opening weekend tally.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (read our review) comes in at number 1 with $19 million. Though not exactly the type of opening many expected when the film was first announced, after several delays and an oddly-toned trailer, we’re definitely surprised by the decent-sized opening. The film did have the added boost of both 3D and IMAX showings, but even then, an R-rated film in the vein of Van Helsing is pretty niche.

Thanks to an additional $35 million in foreign gross, Hansel and Gretel has already surpassed its $50 million production budget, but is still a long ways from justifying the need for a sequel. Maybe the two can take on other fairy tale characters.

Coming in at number 2 is Mama with $12 million. Once again, horror dominates the month of January as the film is up to $48 million after only two weeks. Operating off a $15 million budget, that’s not bad at all.

Silver Linings Playbook retains its 3rd place spot yet again with $10 million. Of the awards season films, David O. Russell’s seems to be benefiting the most from that added buzz. The film is up to $69 million in domestic grosses.

Right behind Silver Linings is Zero Dark Thirty with $9.8 million. Kathryn Bigelow’s procedural drama – centered on the hunt for Osama Bin Laden – has been surrounded by controversy, but has generated $69 million regardless.

The action film Parker (read our review) is the number 5 film this weekend with $7 million. A Jason Statham vehicle usually averages about $10 million at the box office, so we’d say this is a typical outing for the action star. However, if Film District was planning to start a franchise with the Parker character and adapt more of Donald Westlake’s novels, it’s unlikely they’ll follow through on those plans.

Coming in at number 6 is Django Unchained with $5.005 million, which brings its total up to $146 million. For a film that is arguably Quentin Tarantino’s most controversial, Django Unchained is also his most popular in terms of total domestic box office.

Movie 43 (read our review) is the number 7 film this weekend with $5 million even. When the film’s first trailer appeared (seemingly out of nowhere), we were taken aback by its star-studded cast’s willingness to tackle some hard R-rated material. Unfortunately, that material wasn’t all that funny or appealing to audiences.

Thankfully, producer Peter Farrelly got away with paying all of the film’s actors next to nothing, so it won’t take much for the film to make back its $6 million production budget. But don’t hold your breath for a Movie 44.

In at number 8 is Gangster Squad with $4.2 million, which brings its total up to $39 million. We’re not sure if it was the delay, the lack of interest, or the content, but something seems strange about a movie starring Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, and Sean Penn underperforming at the box office.

Broken City comes in at number 9 with $4 million, bringing its total domestic gross up to a very disappointing $15 million. Mark Wahlberg typically fares well in the January box office, and there were a lot of talented people involved with this film, but apparently the interest just wasn’t there.

Rounding out the top 10 is Les Misérables with $3.9 million, which brings its total up to $137 million. Tom Hooper’s musical is inching closer and closer to the number 3 spot (currently held by Mamma Mia!) on highest grossing musicals of all time list, and should get there by next weekend.